Valours Children
by Althelas
Summary: After some horrible events during a journey to Lorien, 13year old Estel must learn how to survive in the wilderness and he isnot alone.
1. Chapter 1

**Valours Children**

By Claudia  
Feedback: PG  
Beta: Nobody, allgrammar errors and typosare mine, mine alone. ;-)

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to the Tolkien  
Estates. I only borrow them for a short time. The persons you  
do not know are mine, please do not use them without permission.

Summary: After some horrible events during a journey to Lorien, 13  
year old Estel must learn how to survive in the wilderness and he is  
not alone.

Inspired by the wonderful book "My side of the mountain" by Jean C.  
George.

**Valours Children**

Chapter 1: Departure

There was still some time left until the sun would graze the roofs of  
the houses of Imladris with her early rays. The darkness of the night  
still lingered in the rooms and outside the Last Homely House, when a  
small shadowy figure made its way through the hallways. It had not to  
walk for long, there were only two doors between its room and it's  
destination.

The soft padding of bare feet on a marbled floor and the rustling of  
a blanket dragged over the floor were the only sounds that could be  
heard, until the feet stopped in front of the chosen door.  
A small hand grabbed the door handle while the little girl stood on  
her tiptoes to reach up to it. Hanging her full weight on the handle  
she managed to push the door open and sneaked into the room.

It was almost as dark inside like it had been in the hallway, only  
the dim light of the moon shining through the open windows  
illuminated some spots on the floor and the only sounds she could  
hear was the breathing of two people in deep sleep and the soft  
rustling of the curtains swaying in the gentle breeze of the night  
wind.  
She padded over to the bed and climbed up on to the mattress with  
some difficulties, catching her breath she watched her sleeping  
parents for a short time.

Her father had wrapped both of his arms around her mother, both heads  
leaning lightly against each other, red hair mixed with golden  
tresses on the pillow.

The girl crept up to her father's head and poked one forefinger in  
his cheek, with her other hand she tugged on his hair.

"Ada!..." another tug on his hair, not as gentle as the one before.

"Ada!" This time her father stirred, blinked slowly and turned his  
head to face her.

"Tindómë, why are you not in your own bed? Did you have a bad dream?"  
Glorfindel whispered, not wanting to wake up his wife.

"No Ada, no bad dream. You said that we will leave for Lorien this  
morning, and it morning now..."

"Little one, it is still dark outside and there are still a few  
candle marks left until it is time to get up."  
"I want to go now..." the little girl stated stubbornly, she was very  
exited, because it would be the first time she would leave her home  
and she did not want to miss the departure.  
"I have slept enough and I'm ... not ... tired." Tindómë replied  
around a yawn, pouting and rubbing her eyes.

"Come her little one." Glorfindel shifted a bit to make place for the  
young one to lie down between her parents. Tindómë crawled over her  
father, who gasped when one of her knees hit him under the ribcage  
and took his breath away.

When the child was settled he grasped the coverlet and draped it  
around her little body, Tindómë was fast asleep the moment her head  
hit the pillow.  
He smiled over her when he felt Yáviëwen trembling in his arm.  
"Since when are you awake?" He whispered.  
"Since she came through the door, as you have been too." Yáviëwen  
whispered back, still trembling with suppressed laughter.  
"I do not understand why you fake sleep, when you know how she will  
wake you up. I do not mind, because I love to watch her attempt to  
wake you up." Yáviëwen lifted her head and feathered a small kiss o  
his lips.  
"Should she continue her kind of waking me, one day you will wake up  
beside a bald man." Glorfindel teased her and stole another kiss from  
her.  
"Hm, I think we should try to sleep again, before I think about  
something completely different."

Yáviëwen poked him in the ribs and hit one of his ticklish points  
that earned her a light chuckle.  
"Behave yourself…Remember, the little one is here."  
"Hmmm ..." He purred in her ear. "...There are other places..."  
"Go to sleep!" She commanded.  
"...the stables..."  
"Sleep!"  
"...the hay barn..."  
"I said, sleep!"  
"...Elrond's study..."  
"What?"  
Hearing her outburst, Glorfindel chuckled and she knew that she had  
fallen prey to his joke.

Still giggling Glorfindel wrapped his arms around his two ladies, and  
shortly after their even breaths showed that they were asleep again.

The next morning found the family in the courtyard, where the party  
gathered who would soon leave for Lorien.  
It was a small group only four elves beside Glorfindel, Tindómë and  
Estel and the young human was fidgety with excitement, this journey  
would be the first for him without his brothers.  
Since he had started his archery training two years ago, he had  
practiced every spare minute, but he had been not allowed to go on a  
hunting trip with his brothers, so this journey could be his  
opportunity to show them that he was able to hunt, and maybe they  
would take him on their next hunting trip.  
They had packed provisions for the whole journey but he knew that the  
elves would go hunting occasionally and hopefully he would accompany  
them.  
Proudly he stood beside his horse and watched Yáviëwen, how she  
watched over the packing of the horses.  
This load was the reason why they would travel to Lorien.  
Yáviëwen had finished her work on some swords and daggers which would  
be delivered to Lórien to serve as gifts and for ceremonial matters.

Glorfindel wanted his daughter to see the wonder of the Golden Wood  
with her own eyes and this journey was the perfect opportunity, he  
did not know how long it would last until he would be able to visit  
Lórien again.  
It was a time of the year which would allow a fast pace and they  
would reach Lorien in about three weeks time.  
The group would travel over the High Pass and then turn southward  
following the river Anduin.  
They would take some boats when they would reach one of the villages  
on the banks of the Ningloron and travel down the river until they  
would approach the Golden woods.

The spring was in full blossom, the days were warm, but not as hot as  
they would be in summer and the nights were fresh but not too cold,  
so that the little one would not be bothered by extreme temperature  
differences. Being a child Tindómë was not able to withstand the  
temperatures like an adult would be.

Yáviëwen would have loved to accompany them; she had not seen the  
Golden Woods and her friends there since the day 7 years ago when she  
had moved to Imladris to stay with Glorfindel.  
But the pile of work that waited for her forbid it and she wanted to  
use the time of his absence to finish her present for Glorfindel  
until the summer solstice.  
It had been a hard work to hide her little secret but she had  
accomplished it, and now that he would leave for a few weeks would  
allow her to finish it.  
It pained her that she would not be with her family for that time,  
they had never been separated since the day the girl had been born,  
but her thoughts would be with them and that had to be enough.  
She had to finish the pile of swords, daggers and trinkets, which  
were supposed to be delivered to Mirkwood in a few weeks.  
The wood elves had their own very talented blacksmiths, but those  
were too busy to do more than forging the weapons for the war against  
the dark forces, so they ordered their gifts and ceremonial weapons  
in Imladris.  
She fastened the last leather stripes on the pack and padded the  
horse's neck.  
Turning around she let her gaze rambling over the different groups,  
who were gathering in the courtyard.

There were the four warriors, already mounted waiting for the signal  
to depart, who would guard the little company.  
Beside the warriors stood the Peredhel family, Estel with a wide grin  
on his face, obviously very proud to be allowed to travel alone.  
Beside him, the twins, fussing around the no more so small human boy,  
to assure themselves that the young boy has not forgotten to pack all  
the things they thought he would need.  
Elrond stood a little aside, watching his sons silently, on his face  
nothing but pride for them while he watched the antics of the twins  
with an amused twinkle in his eyes.

A joyful squeal and the musical laughter of Glorfindel turned her  
attention back to her own little family.  
Tindómë sat on the horse's back, secured by the hands of her father,  
who stood at the horse's side, Glorfindel had tickled the little girl  
and she squirmed with delight.  
With a few steps Yáviëwen closed the distance between her and her  
family and wrapped her arms around Glorfindel's waist.  
"It is time." She whispered in his ear.

Glorfindel lifted Tindómë from the horse, this time not his faithful  
Asfaloth, the stallion had been injured a few days ago, and had now  
to rest until he was fully recovered, and turned around, the girl in  
his arms.  
"Why don't you say good bye to uncle Elrond while I talk to your  
mother."  
Tindómë nodded with a bright smile and struggled to be let down.  
Both watched their girl running through the gathered elves and horses  
straight over to Elrond.  
The lord scooped her up and whispered something in her ear that made  
her giggle.  
Elrond looked over to Glorfindel and Yáviëwen and raised one eyebrow.  
Glorfindel's response comprised of a raised eyebrow too, Elrond  
nodded in understanding and turned to leave.  
"Let's see little one, if we find something for you in the kitchen."

"He spoils her to no end and we will have to work against it." With  
these words Glorfindel turned around, embraced Yáviëwen and leaned  
his forehead against hers.

"You are not better, believe me." Was all Yáviëwen said, then they  
stood motionless for minutes, memorizing every detail of the other's  
features.  
Glorfindel captured her lips in a deep kiss that left hem both  
breathless when they parted.  
Hearing the laughter, both turned, not breaking their embrace. They  
were greeted by the laughing faces of the crowd which had watched  
them closely,  
Both blushed furiously, what earned them another round of laughter.  
In the meantime Elrond had returned with Tindómë from the kitchen,  
the child safe on his arms, Tindómë nibbled on a piece of honey cake.  
Yáviëwen broke the embrace and lifted her daughter out of the lord's  
arms, hugging her tightly and wiping away some honey off of the  
girl's mouth.  
"Lord Elrond you spoil her too much!"  
"Oh, it has been a long time since I had the chance to spoil a little  
elleth, so let an old lord have his fun." Elrond replied with a mock  
hurt look. "Besides, it is not spoiling to give someone something to  
eat."

"I am sorry to interrupt this little discussion, but it is time to  
leave before it becomes too late." Glorfindel explained and turned  
around to face them, before his gaze swept over their group and gave  
them a sign to get ready to leave.  
The warriors took up the reins of their horses and the ones of the  
packhorses and made their way towards the great archway that would  
lead them out of Imladris.  
The twins and Elrond hugged Estel one last time, Elladan did not  
leave the opportunity slip by to give him some more advice how to  
behave and tell Estel that he would be in deep trouble should he fall  
off a cliff once more, before they let the boy mount his horse.

The human laughed about the antics of his older brother and told him  
that there were no cliffs on their way to Lorien, before he nudged  
his steed into a slow trot, to close the distance to the warriors.  
Glorfindel had mounted his stallion too, before he took Tindómë up  
and placed her in front of him. Securing his precious little girl  
with one arm around her waist he bent down and whispered something  
into his wife's ear that made her blush, laughing he gave the sign to  
depart and one by one the horses disappeared through the gate, Estel  
and Glorfindel at the end of the little column.

Elrond, the twins and Yáviëwen stood together in the now empty  
courtyard and watched their families leave.  
Shortly before the troop went out of sight, they saw the face and  
arms of Tindómë appear over the shoulder of his father, the piece of  
cake still tightly clutched in one hand, while she waved her mother  
and her uncles a good bye with the other.  
Yáviëwen and the others returned the gesture and watched them until  
they disappeared in the distance.  
She felt a light touch on her shoulder and turned around to meet  
Elrond's gaze.

"They will be fine, the roads to Lórien are safe, the patrols have  
not reported orc activities around the area. They will be home in a  
few weeks and then we all have to endure the tales which your little  
one and Estel will tell countless times."  
With an assuring squeeze on her shoulder Elrond left her and walked  
back to the house.  
With a sigh Yáviëwen cast one last glance to where the company of her  
family had disappeared and headed towards the smithy.

Had they known what awaited their beloved ones they all had been on  
their way immediately to bring them back.

tbc

If you want to know how Glorfindel came to a family, you can  
find "Glorfindels Fall" and "To be a father" here on too.

Thank you for reading this story, comments are always appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2 Fly Like an Eagle

I thought Ill give you a glimpse of what is up to come. hehe.

the next chapter will be up next friday.

Happy Reading!

For disclaimers see chapter 1

**Chapter 2: Fly like an eagle**

A lonely shadow circled high above the forest, only sometimes it would make an occasional flap to reach another thermal, but most of the time it allowed the wind to carry him.

The eagle noticed movements under the canopies of the forest and changed his direction to take a closer look, maybe it was something worth hunting for. He stopped his decent short above the treetops and started to circle again.

His sharp eyes told him soon that this was not prey at all; it was a fairly large band of orcs and goblins, chopping trees and placing traps along their way.

He came to the conclusion that he would find nothing to hunt for in this part of the forest and left his observation point and caught another thermal that would bring him higher up to the north, away from the brawly bunch of dark creatures.

Some time later he could make out a group of riders in the distance, heading south, coming closer to them he noticed that it was a small party of elves, only five adults, one adolescent and to his surprise ... a little elfling.

He had never seen an elfling in his life, only heard about them, so his curiosity got the best of him and he draw closer to have a look at it.

The little one was placed in front of an elf, who was obviously its father, the resemblance was nothing to deny, and fiddled with the mane of the steed.

The girl, now that he had come nearer he could see that it was a girl uttered something that made the rest of the group laugh, before the adolescent urged his horse closer to her and whispered something to the girl that sent her into a fit of giggles.

Letting his gaze roam over the rest of the group he saw the three pack horses and their heavy load, it seems that they would travel down to the river like so many others before them and take the boats down the Anduin to Lorien.

Over the time he had witnessed a lot of companies taking this route to deliver goods from and to the Golden woods that he was sure that they would not enter the woods but bypass them on the eastern boundaries.

Nevertheless he felt the urge to warn them about the presence of the orcs and shrieked two times.

All of them raised their faces to have a look at him and the elfling pointed her finger up to the sky to show that she knew where he was, excitement written all over her features. Her father bent down, seemingly explaining something to her the way she bobbed her head up and down before she raised her tiny arm again and waved a greeting to the creature above them, the older elf followed her sample and waved too, to the eagle it looked like his warning has been understood so he left the little company with a last screech, to go his own way and find some food.

When he found a rabbit a little higher up in the mountains all thoughts of the elves and the orcs were gone and the only thing left was the primal urge of sating his hunger and he launched himself down to kill.

Glorfindel watched the eagle disappearing in the distance with a frown, something was odd about this bird but he could not put a finger on it.

A gentle tugging on the front of his tunic brought him out of his thoughts.

"Ada, I want to learn how to fly."

"No Tindómë, you can not fly, you are no bird."

"But Ada, you told me that I can learn how to swim like a fish, why can I not learn how to fly like a bird?"

"That is something different, little one."

"Why?"

"Look at your arms, do you have feathers or even wings?" Glorfindel had to suppress a grin, as he watched Tindómë examining her arms for any evidence of something that would go through as wings.

"No, there are no feathers or wings, but I do not have scales too and I learn how to swim like a fish. Ada, I want to fly, please."

Tindómë looked up into his face with big pleading eyes, her lower lip trembled and a single tear made its way down her smooth cheeks.

Glorfindel hugged her close and brushed over her hair to sooth his little girl.

"Hush, little one, we can talk about this, when we are back home, promise."

He was aware that the elves around him tried hard not to laugh out loud. He could hear their muffled giggles all around him.

To see the mighty warrior melt like ice in the sun, when his daughter had _this _look on her face was nothing new to them they had witnessed this countless times over the last years, but nevertheless it was always an amusing sight to have.

Glorfindel turned his head to face the others and shot them a look that meant they were in trouble the next time they would meet on the practicing field and addressed the warrior next to him.

"Rildûr, we should look for a place to make camp, I do not want to stay in the open fields over the night. There is a forest not far away from here and we could make camp at the edge. If I remember correct, there should be a place where other companies have spent the night on earlier journeys, maybe the place is still intact and we do not have to build flets of our own. Take one of the others with you and see if it is still there."

Rildûr nodded and motioned another warrior to follow him when he spurred his horse first into a fast trot and then into gallop to see that they would find the place and prepare it for their group before the others arrived.

Estel let his horse fall beside Glorfindel's in a slow trot.

"Why do you not want us to stay in the open fields? We have done this the nights before."

Glorfindel pointed at the sky. "Do you see the clouds down south?"

The boy nodded.

"They are moving fast and if you take a deep breath you can smell the rain in the air too. If I'm right it will be raining latest in the afternoon, maybe even earlier and I want to spend the night in a relatively dry place. See I'm an old elf and I like it comfortable not like you young rascals who can sleep in each place they lay their heads."

With a grin Glorfindel ruffled through the boy's dark locks, before he too urged his horse to a faster pace to follow the two warriors.

The orcs were frustrated and angry ... no ... they were furious. All of their traps were empty, not a single creature was caught in them no rabbit, no deer, nothing.

Soon it would be dark enough for them to leave the forest and head back to their dwelling deep in the mountains.

But first they needed something to bring back home, their leader knew that they would not survive the night, should they return empty-handed. They would serve as meal for the rest of the pack that was for sure. And he at least wanted to survive.

There was till time left so they would search another part of the forest. The pack had never ventured that far north-east before, but the hunger drove them and maybe they would find some prey there. The rain that had started earlier made it not easier for them, the forest ground was by now a muddy mass and it seemed that every creature has left the woods and hide in their nests and holes until the downpour has subsided.

He growled in frustration and ordered his trop to leave, he had to beat a few of them up but finally they obeyed, he did not know if it was the fear of his wrath or the fear of becoming the meal to the other that brought them to follow his orders, he did not know and he did not care, as long as they obeyed him at all.

He led them trough the never explored thickets along overgrown paths until they reached the eastern edges by nightfall. The rain has ended some time ago but still they had not caught a single animal and by now his stomach grumbled so loud, that he thought it must be heard before someone could see them.

He signalled his troop to stop when he caught a distinct smell in the wind. He sniffed ones more to find out where it came from and what it was exactly. His mouth start to water when he identified the odour, he had not smelled this for a long time, but he would recognize it everywhere ... the sweet smell of elves ... elves ... they would feast on elf flesh.

The thought of fresh elven meat in his mouth drove him nearly insane, but he had to be careful, they could not allow the elves to escape, so their approach must be slow and unnoticed.

He was sure that there were guards around the elven camp and he did not want them to notice his pack before it was too late.

So he sent out a couple of orcs to spy on the camp, but not before he has beaten into them that they were not allowed to attack without his permission.

The rest of the group was doomed to wait. All had the promising smell in their nostrils and not few of them shifted on their feet eager to attack and to feast. Their leader had had to use his whip more then once to keep them at bay.

When the scouts returned, they reported that it was only a small band of elves that has made camp near the border of the woods.

Only five of the cursed creatures were to be seen, three of them sitting near a small campfire, roasting some meat, while the two others stood guard. It seemed that they had found one of the frequent companies that would deliver goods to Lorien from one of the other realms in the north. Their horses roamed around and grazed, their loads piled near one of the trees.

The orc leader hesitated no longer, they were enough to outnumber the elves more then fifteen to one and they ran short of time to return safe to their dwelling before they had to stay one more day under the dark canopies of this forest and so he chose twenty of them to catch the horses and kill them, the rest would attack the elves.

The moment his troops were in position, he gave the sign and the orcs rushed forward, leaving the cover of the trees, nearly mad from hunger and bloodlust.

Having nothing to lose and fresh meat in sight, they stormed out of the forest and attacked the elves ferociously.

The elves had been aware of their presence and were prepared to fight, a hail of arrow hit the first rows of the orcs and killed many of them instantly, but the following only jumped over the corpses of their fallen comrades and launched themselves at the enemy.

The clashing of swords and the screams and grunts of the wounded filled the air as well as the smell of blood which overwhelmed the senses of the orcs and drove them into a more furious fighting.

The battle was over sooner than expected. The orc leader gathered the remaining members of his troop, there were less than a third of them left and barked orders to slaughter the horses and carry the meet to their dwelling. They would leave the corpses of the dead elves in this place for their own. The pack in their dwelling must not know about this little stack of fresh elven meat that would be for him and his pack alone. They would return later and feast on the sweet meat that would wait for them in this place.

With a last glance over the destroyed camp and a last kick into the lifeless body of the golden haired elf at his feet, he left the camp as well, leaving the corpses of dead orcs and elves behind.

None of them had noticed the flet in the crown of one of the trees or the two children huddled together on top of it.

* * *

TBC 

See you next week. eg


	3. Chapter 3: Left Alone

Valours Children

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

short A/N at the end of this chapter.

I still have no beta so all the typos and mistakes are my own.

Thank you for your reviews ((((hugs))))

Enjoy!

Chapter 3: Left Alone

Hugging each other closely, the two children had watched the whole fight, with eyes, wide with fear, to its bitter end.  
Estel had clamped one hand over Tindómë's mouth to keep her from screaming and giving away their presence. The girl struggled in his grip but he did not let her go. It was still too dangerous and he was the one who was responsible for her safety.  
Glorfindel had asked him to keep an eye on the girl when he had brought her up into the tree for the night.Tindómë was asleep when Glorfindel had carried her up to the old flet, he laid her down near the tree trunk and tucked her in one of their blankets to keep the chill of the night away from her.  
Estel had promised to watch over the little girl until Glorfindel would come up later too.

Some time later he fell asleep too only to be jerked out of his dreams by the ear shattering screams of the attacking orcs and the sound of metal clashing against metal in this furious battle that took place  
down below on the ground.  
Estel would never forget the screams he heard that night and the things he was forced to watch, they would follow him for a long time and haunt him in the nights to come.

From their vantage point they had a clear view of the things that happened. He tried to block Tindómë's view with his body but in vain. She was horrified by the racket of the battle cries and the screams and the only thing she wanted was her ada.  
Estel whispered to her and tried to tell her that her ada would be here with them soon, but until then they had to remain silent. The only thing he could do right now was to sooth the sobbing child in his  
arms with words and soft strokes along her trembling back.  
He wanted to believe his own words but he failed miserable, especially when he watched one elf fall after the other.  
He wanted nothing more then to avoid his eyes from the view down on the ground, but some kind of morbid fascination kept him from turning his gaze away.

He had never seen a battle this close ... to be honest ... he had never seen a battle at all. Estel had never expected that it would be like the events that evolved in front of him, he had not expected all this noise and blood. What he was forced to witness had nothing to do with the songs he had heard sitting beside a warm fireplace, it had nothing to do with glory and victory... it was just ... ugly and dirty, and he could do nothing more then watch helplessly.

The last one standing had been Glorfindel, fighting like a man possessed, but not even the skill of a Balrog slayer could have saved him from his fate.  
Standing in the middle of a circle of dead orcs he tried to fight the orcs who attacked him now that no other elf was left, from all sides.  
Glorfindel never saw the club that hit him from behind, it hit him on the lower left side of his back and the sickening sound of breaking bones could be heard even in the crown of the tree.

Estel could only watch in horror, how Glorfindel tried to whirl around with a pain filled scream but failed because his crushed bones refused to carry his weight anymore. The warrior fell forward right into the  
blade of a scimitar that slashed across his stomach. Glorfindel's body crashed to the ground without another sound and moved no more.

Shortly after the end, the orcs left the camp behind, carrying the slaughtered horses with them.

The children dared not to leave the confines of their shelter until the sound of the marching pack disappeared in the distance and even then they stayed up on the flet until they could be sure that no orc  
was left behind to watch over the remnants of the elven camp.  
So they sat on the flet, hugging each other closely, trembling and sobbing, until Estel decided that he would go down and see if one of the elves had survived the fight.

He has watched the campsite over Tindome's shoulders but he could not make out movements nor had he heard a sound. From what he was forced to witness he could not believe that anybody would have been able to survive this, but he still had hope that he was wrong. He prayed to the Valar that he was wrong and that there was still one or more living souls down in this mess of blood, gore and dead bodies.  
"Little one, I need to go down and see to your ada but I promise you that I will be back soon and pick you up. Please stay here until I come back. Can you do this for me?"

Estel tried to loosen the hold of Tindómë's arms around his waist, but the only thing he achieved was that she hugged him more tightly then before.  
Her sobbing had subsided some time ago, but she still had not uttered one word, the girl only clung to him like he was some sort of lifeline.

"Tindómë ... please ... let me go. I promise I will come back. I do not leave you alone. Do you understand me?"

Tindómë nodded against his chest and loosened her grip. Estel crept to the edge of the flet and proceeded to climb down the tree.  
"Where is my ada?" Tindómë's whispered question was barely audible and he would not have heard her would the forest not have been so quiet. Estel looked back over his shoulder and saw her sitting there,  
sniffling and rubbing her swollen red eyes.  
"I will look for your ada and when I find him, I will come back and get you. Will you be fine here meanwhile?" He answered her, not knowing what he would do should there be no elf alive down on the  
ground and how he should get the girl from the tree in this darkness.  
The only thing that gave a bit of light in this black night was the dying campfire. It would not last forever and then the darkness would be complete. There was no moonlight that could help, it seemed that  
even the moon hid his face behind the heavy clouds not wanting to see what had happened to the Eldar.

He did not know what to do should no elf be alive down there.

Where should they go?

He had not paid much attention to the tales ofthe elves about the routes and the villages alongside the hills, he had been too busy to watch his surroundings, the birds in the sky, the plains with the swaying grass and other things like the little rabbits playing a little bit off of their path. Now he scolded himself for not listening better.

Maybe he should take Tindómë and try to go back to Imladris, or maybe it was better to try to reach the river and Lorien? They had no horses, they had no provisions, they had nothing.

He did not know the way.

They would not make it.

It was hopeless.

No ... do not despair ... you have made a promise. A promise to protect Tindómë and you will stay true to your word!'He scolded himself before he left the flet after a last reliant nod and a smile to Tindómë.  
He searched his way down very carefully; he could not allow himself a misstep.

Reaching the ground he turned around with a relieved sigh and gasped. The scene looked much worse then it had from above. The flickering fire helped him to take in the whole scenery. Everywhere around him lay the dead bodies of orcs, he guessed that it must be close to fifty of them, but he was not sure, it could be more it could be less, the floor was littered with them.  
Slowly he crept closer to the place where he last had seen Glorfindel. He had not made more then two steps before he slipped, catching his balance short before he dropped to the ground he looked down only to notice that he stood in a pool of a black liquid. Estel lifted his foot to examine the substance when he noticed that it was blood ...black blood ... the view turned his stomach upside down. He barely  
managed to get out of the puddle before he fell down on his knees and retched. After some time only dry heaves left his throat, his stomach has long lost all of its contents.  
When the shaking stopped he wiped over his face with the sleeve of his tunic. He desperately wanted to wash the aftertaste out of his mouth, but for that he would need water.

Estel stumbled back on his feet and started to walk again, with trembling knees. This time he reached the fire and first he fed it with some wood that was wondrously still placed beside it. Soon the fire burned a lot brighter and finally Estel was able to see his surroundings much better and immediately he wished the darkness back.  
For a few seconds he closed his eyes to block the gruesome sight of blood and death and took some deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart before he opened them again.  
His eyes darted over the place to find Glorfindel, blocking all other thoughts from his mind.  
There ... there was a glimpse of gold in all this mud and gore, only a few feet away from the place where he stood now.  
Estel rushed over to the fallen elf as fast as his legs allowed him to, and prostrate beside him.  
Glorfindel lay on his stomach in a slowly growing puddle of blood, his face turned to the other side.

Estel did not know what to do.  
He had watched his father countless time, patching up his brothers or warriors, but he had no idea how to treat a wounded being. Was Glorfindel wounded or was he dead like the others? That was something he had to find out at first. Estel grabbed the shoulders of the warrior and pulled with all his  
might to turn him on his back. Estel felt relieved when he saw that Glorfindel still drew breath,  
shallow and weak, but there was breath at all. The boy sat back on his heel and looked over the prone body at his feet. There was a large bruise on the elf's forehead, but no blood there. He let his gaze roam over the Glorfindel's body until he found a bloody gash across the warrior's stomach. Estel could see the wound through the torn tunic and the sight made him gag one more time. The rims were not smooth but ragged, the result of a crude forged orcish blade, and it was deep ... very deep. The blood had already  
soaked the whole front of the shirt and it did not look like the blood flow would slow down.  
Estel knew that he had to stem the bleeding immediately, but he had nothing at hand what he could use.  
So he rose up again and searched the camp with the help of a burning branch and found some more or less clean blankets which he could use.  
Returning to the fallen elf's side he tried to tore one of the blankets in pieces, but he had not the strength to do it, so he reached out with trembling hands, lifted Glorfindel's shirt and pressed the blanket on the wound without looking at it. He knew should he take a closer look, he would end up on his knees and throw up again, and that was a thing he wanted to avoid at all cost. He could not allow himself this weakness, not now.  
Estel nearly jumped out of his skin, when the elf moaned, watching Glorfindel's face he could not see any sign that the warrior was going to wake up.

"Glorfindel? ... Can you hear me? ... Please, I do not know what to do. Help me!" The boy begged, but there was no answer. Glorfindel remained unconscious. Estel removed the blanket and noticed that the bleeding has lessened, but it had not stopped entirely, so he used another blanket, placed it on the wound as good as he was able and tugged it under the elf's sides, to prevent it from slipping off.  
That was when he for the first time took notice of his trembling hands. It did not stop at his hands but spread over his arms and moments later his whole body shook, he fell sideward, buried his face in his  
hands and cried until he had no tears left. Sobbing and hiccupping he laid on the ground, lost to the world until he felt someone touching him.

"Estel!" It was Tindómë. "Estel, why does ada sleep here? He promised to sleep with us in the tree."  
Wiping the tears off of his face and sniffling, Estel embraced the girl.  
"Maybe he did not want to disturb us and stayed with the warriors."

"Then I will wake him up and we can go back into the tree and sleep there." That reminded Estel of something. "What are you doing down here? I told you to stay on the flet until I come and get you."

"You were gone for such a long time and ... and... I felt lonely and .. and... I wanted my ada." Tindómë said with a small voice.  
She crawled over to her father and poked him in his check, like she always did. Earning no response as usual, she tugged at his hair, but this time her little trick did not work, the only thing that happened  
was that the elf's head lolled sideways.

"Estel, why does ada not wake up? He always gets up when I tug at his hair, why not this time? ... Ada...?" she tugged once more and started to cry when it failed again. Tindómë started to push against  
Glorfindel's shoulders in a vainly attempt to shake him back to awareness.

Estel watched the tiny bundle of despair for some seconds before he crept closer and embraced her again. Rocking back and forth he tried to sooth the frightened child even if he did not feel much better. Soon exhaustion took over and the children slept again, curled up beside the wounded elf, searching for  
comfort in each others embrace.

TBC

A/N: I never knew how many hits I had on a story before. But thanks to the new settings I am able to see it, but now I wish that I would not see it at all.

It is a little desillusiouning to see that the story so far had over 300 hits and only 4 reviews. Don't get me wrong, I do not want to upset one of you, by no means, but it would be very nice to leave only a short message if you like it or not. If you don't like tell me, but please be polite. ;-)

I do not know what I do wrong if you don't tell me. I only started writing last year and I need to know what I do wrong to improve my writing.

Thank you for reading this.

And many thanks for reading this story.


	4. Chapter 4

Welcome to the next part of the journey.

I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Thank you all for reading and a big ((((hug)))) for those who have left a review. It always brightens my day to read what you think.

Happy Reading!

**Valours Children**

Chapter 4: Day 1

The boy was the first one to wake up when the early rays of the morning sun touched the destroyed camp, slightly disoriented.

For a few moments he did not know where he was, but then the memories of last night's horror flooded back into his mind and he bolted upright, looking around with wild eyes and trying to find out if something has happened during his sleep.

No, nothing has changed, he was still trapped in a nightmare, but now in the first light of the day he could see much more then he had seen the night before and he immediately wished the darkness back.

Surrounded by piles of dead orcs, their lifeless eyes watching his every move, he suppressed a shudder and thought that they had to search for another place to stay.

He thought of the other orcs and knew that they would return, he had not understand one single word of what had been talked about last night, but he had heard a lot of stories about them and he knew that they would not leave the bodies of the elves behind.

His brothers had always told him stories about orcs eating elf flesh and right now in this place surrounded by death he believed every single word of all this tales.

His stomach grumbled and reminded him that he had not eaten since midday yesterday, he really had to find some food and water not only for himself but also for Tindómë and Glorfindel.

Estel got up on wobbly legs as silent as possible, he did not want to wake up Tindómë and shot a quick glance towards the girl if his rising had disturbed her ... no... the girl still slept, curled up against her father's side.

Some time during the night Glorfindel had moved one of his arms and wrapped it around his daughter, Estel could not tell, whether the lord had regained consciousness during the night or if he only had reacted to the feeling of a beloved one at his side without knowing.

Estel could not tell if Glorfindel was asleep or unconscious now, his closed eyes could be evidence for both. Even if the boy was used to elves sleeping with their eyes open, he had seen a lot of them over the years, who would sleep like a human, when they were exhausted or injured.

Silently he left the two sleeping elves and criss-crossed the destroyed camp in search for food, water and other useful items, like healing herbs or weapons.

With a little luck the orcs had not destroyed everything.

He found several water skins, but all of them were empty, the water oozed into the ground during the night, leaving only small puddles behind. Finally he detected one that had not been ripped open. Estel picked it up and shook it carefully, it held not so much water than he had hoped, only a quarter of the original contents had remained, but is was better than nothing at all.

He opened it and took a small sip, even if he was not overly thirsty, but he wanted to get the bad taste out of his mouth.

Resuming his search he found some pieces of Lembas, still wrapped in the leaves on the ground, picking them up he placed them beside the water skin.

From the look of it the orcs had turned every pack upside down but they had not touched a thing, only stomped the contents into the soft muddy ground, it was a little miracle that the Lembas remained dry during all this.

When Estel returned to Tindómë and Glorfindel after he had ended his search, he carried a few more blankets, two water skins, one nearly empty, one three quarters full, a little pouch with herbs, Estel could not tell if they were healing or cooking herbs, he would need help to figure that out, six and a half pieces of Lembas and a dagger at his belt.

He had found the packages with the swords and daggers, ripped open and the swords scattered on the ground, but nothing had been destroyed, so he took up one of the daggers and attached it to his belt. He would have loved to take one of the swords, but they were simply too big for him, even the dagger was so long that it nearly reached down to his knee. Estel did not know how to use this weapon properly, he had only watched his brothers and the other elves sparring with the swords, his training should start in two more years, but he felt much better and not so vulnerable with the weapon near at hand.

Laying down his heavy burden beside Glorfindel he turned his attention back to the elf and his wounds.

Estel removed the blanket he had used as a make shift bandage last night and took a close look to it. The wound seemed better then it had been the first time he had wrapped it, the edges still had this angry red colour and the dried blood did not allow him to examine it closer, but to the boy it looked like it was not so deep then it had been before.

Glorfindel's healing abilities were still intact and were working hard to repair the damage that had been inflicted to the body.

Estel used some of the precious water to clean the wound from blood and grime and knew that he should add some herbs to fight infection, but he did not know the herbs he had found and so he only cut one of the blankets in strips and prepared them to bandage the wound.

He could not wrap it around Glorfindel's midsection, the elf, as light as he might be was still much too heavy for a human child to lift and hold upright.

The only thing he could do was to cover the gash once again and hope that it would be enough.

Finishing his task of treating the wound, Estel sat back on his heals and thought about the options he had.

One, they could remain here and wait for help, which would most likely not come the next days, or two, they could leave and seek help. He had overheard Rildûr and Telnár speaking of a human settlement on the other side of the forest near the slopes of the mountains, but he could not remember if they had said something about the exact location, he cursed himself for not paying more attention to the warriors, but now it was too late. But if they could make it through the forest, maybe they would find a path that would lead to the village and get help. Maybe he could make it in three or four days and return with some horses to get them all back to the safety of Imladris.

He would have to search his way trough the woods, the way alongside the forest would be too long.

But what of Glorfindel and Tindómë?

He could not leave them behind, nor could he take Glorfindel with him. He had no horses and it was impossible for him to carry the lord all the way, he could not even lift him up enough to bandage the wound properly, and to drag him along with some kind of litter was not an option too.

Maybe he could take Tindómë with him and leave Glorfindel behind for the time being?

The warrior looked not like he would wake up for the rest of the day, the boy knew from watching the wounded elves back in Imladris that the healing sleep could last a few days or even more, depending on how severe the injury was.

He could leave a note, explaining where they had gone, just in case the warrior would regain consciousness before they would return with help.

Yes, that was the way he would do it.

But first he wanted Glorfindel out of this place of death and decay.

Estel rose to his feet and went to search for a spot where he could leave Glorfindel, so that he would not fall prey to the orcs which would return some time.

He found a good one a bit further down the edge of the forest.

Bushes of wild roses had grown together to a think hedge, forming some kind of floral cave in their midst.

The thick branches were covered with long thorns and would give a little protection, and the leaves should prevent curious eyes from noticing that something lies hidden under the canopy.

To get the branches out of his way would be a little difficult, but maybe he could bind them back with some rope.

Estel returned to the camp to wake Tindómë up and get ready to bring Glorfindel to the shelter he had chosen.

The girl sat up, still a bit sleepy and rubbed her eyes before she turned around and started her ritual to wake up her father. Estel caught her hand before it could touch the elf's face

"Wait Tindómë, let him sleep a little longer." Offering her a piece of Lembas he asked: "Are you not hungry?" A silent nod was the only answer he got, before the girl grabbed the offered piece of breads and munched it down.

Estel gave her, what he hoped would be a happy smile before he helped her to drink from the water skin.

"Are we going to wake up ada now? He is always a bit grumpy when he sleeps in, and I do not like it when he is grumpy." Tindómë pouted and a look of distress crossed her features when she shifted her weight from one knee to the other, as Estel told her that her ada would probably sleep the whole day.

It took some time before Estel noticed what bothered her, nature was calling and usually Glorfindel would help her, but right now her father was not able to do so.

The boy rose to his feet and offered Tindómë a hand. "Come on little one, I help you." After a short moment of hesitation the girl jumped up, took the offered hand and followed Estel to the woods, where he stood guard when she relieved herself, later he helped her to dress up again and led her back to the camp.

Glorfindel had not moved the slightest bit, his face a pale mask of pain, even in unconsciousness. Estel touched the elf's forehead ... no there was no fever, only cold sweat and the boy did not know if that was good or bad. He wiped away the perspiration with a damp cloth before he once again gathered all the things he had collected earlier. Later he would search for some more supplies but first he wanted to bring Glorfindel and Tindómë out of this mess.

Estel wrapped all the stuff into one of the blankets and tied the bundle up with one of the leather stripes he had found.

He carried the package over to the thicket, but not before he inculcated Tindómë upon staying at her fathers side until he would come back.

When he returned a short time later and started his preparations for the last task at hand before they would leave, she still sat beside her father and hummed a little song. The boy smiled sadly, when he recognized the tune, it was one of the lullabies his brother had sung to him and later to Tindómë as well. It brought back memories of happier times and all Estel wanted to do was curl up and dream of his home and his family.

With a sigh he suppressed this thought and spread out the last remaining blanket beside Glorfindel, kneeled down behind the elf's head and grabbed the lord under his armpits. Taking a deep breath he used all of his strength to pull Glorfindel's upper body on top of the blanket. The boy was not prepared for what happened next.

Glorfindel screamed.

Estel let go of the warrior like he had burned his hands. Glorfindel's head and back fell back to the ground with a thud and the scream turned into a low moan.

Glorfindel was still unconscious; the pain must have been so unbearable even in this state that it evoked such a strong reaction. For a few moments Estel stood beside the elf, too shocked and frightened to touch him again.

He could not figure out what had caused this reaction, then he remembered the orc who had hit Glorfindel with his club last night and the crushing sound he had heard. The hit must have broken one or more bones, but the boy could not tell which one.

He was shaken out of his pondering by little fists hitting him, Tindómë had started to cry the moment she heard her father scream and attacked Estel now, hitting him and yelling hysterically at him not to hurt her ada.

He got down on his knees and tried to embrace her, but the girl shied away from him tears streaming down her face and trembling.

"Little one, please..." Estel pleaded. "I did not hurt your ada. He had been hurt before, but I failed to notice that earlier. I promise you to be more careful the next time. Please Tindómë, trust me."

He still offered his hand to her but she refused to let him touch her. Once again she scooted close to her father, trying to cuddle up at his side and brushed over his hair in an attempt to sooth him like he always did when she was hurt. Wide eyes watched Estel when he scooted closer to her and tried to touch her again.

The little girl still trembled and avoided his touch and Estel knew that he needed another way to approach his goal.

He moved back a little and put some space between himself and the girl, then he sat back on his heels and started to speak.

He told her about the healing houses of Imladris and how his father Lord Elrond treated wounded elves and how he sometimes had watched from the side. He spoke about injuries which had to be treated and how some of the warriors had screamed, he knew he was cruel to tell her this, but he needed her to understand that he did not hurt her ada out of purpose.

She listened very intensely, but made no move that showed Estel that he was welcome at her side.

He talked on about the treatment of wounds like the one he knew she had noticed on her father.

Estel knew that she had seen his makeshift bandage and he wanted her to know what lay beneath this poor wrapping and that he needed to treat it, he talked about infections in wounds that were not properly treated. He left out details, he only mentioned that her father would maybe suffer more, if she does not allow him to treat him.

He was so engrossed in his tale that he nearly missed her whispered question.

"What did you say Tindo?"

"Will my ada be well again, when you treat him?" She asked again, this time a little more firm than the last time, and she looked Estel straight into the eyes.

The boy took a deep breath before he answered her. "I do not know, little one ... but I will try my best to help your ada until we can bring him home to Imladris that my ada can help him. Will you help me with treating him until then?"

The girl bit her lower lip and bobbed her head slowly, tears still trailing down her cheeks. Estel hold out his arms and waited, it took only moments before his arms were full with a trembling little elfling and once again he stroked her back and murmured soothing words into her ear until she had calmed down.

He held her at arms length and looked into her swollen eyes.

"Tindómë, you must understand one thing, we need to move your ada, that is what I wanted to do with him, nothing more. I have found a cosy place where he can sleep, it is full of flowers and it smells a lot better than this place and it is dry and much cleaner there, I think he will like it. You know your ada and how neat he can be. I think he would prefer sleeping in a cleaner place, what do you think?"

Tindómë sniffled and wiped the sleeve of her tunic over her face. "He always forces me to bath when I am dirty, he always says that a dirty elleth can not be a good warrior and no elf would want to kiss her, when she is grown up." After a moment she added almost stubbornly. "I do not like baths and I do not know why I should want to kiss a boy."

Estel could not hold back, he started to laugh hysterically. Here he sat in the middle of a battlefield surrounded by death and a little elfling told him that she did not wanted to be kissed when she was an adult.

When his laughter had finally subsided, he took her in his arm and hugged her close.

"Tindo, what do you think, could you help me to make the place I found ready for your ada?"

"Will he wake up sooner, when he is at this place?" she asked and when Estel gave her a little nod, she eagerly agreed to help him.

Estel took her hand and led her to the thicket, he told her to stay there and prepare a bed for her ada.

He sighed with relief, when she started to rummage through the blankets and tried to straighten them out, the boy watched her for some time, and a small smile appeared on his face as he watched her determined face and the way her tongue appeared between her lips when she concentrated on shoving more dry leaves under the blanket, that it would be soft enough for her sleeping ada.

He returned to the camp, kneeled down beside Glorfindel and examined him carefully, like he had seen his father do it more then once when he had searched for broken bones. He moved his hands slowly up and down every limb of the unconscious elf, but he could find nothing at all, except of some minor cuts and bruises from the battle.

The only thing now left was the spine, Estel did not know what to do if the spine had been broken.

He had never seen an elf with a broken spine but a few years ago, when he had visited Laketown with Legolas and his brothers he had seen a puppy which had been kicked by a horse by accident, it only could crawl with his front legs, it could not use his hind legs at all.

Elladan had said that it's spine had been broken and that it would most likely be killed by it's owner to spare him more pain and give him a less painful death than it would await the poor creature paralysed.

Estel could not imagine how life would look like for Glorfindel if he would be paralyzed.

He prayed that it would be another injury, everything, but a broken spine.

He moved his hands very slowly over the sides of Glorfindel, when he suddenly felt something move under his fingers. He probed a little bit firmer, and then he felt it... there were some pieces moving against each other. Estel was relieved that it was not the spine, but those fractures looked bad enough for him.

What disturbed him a lot was that Glorfindel had not moved during his examination, nor did he made a sound.

It looked like the Balrog slayer had slipped in a deeper unconsciousness than before.

Maybe he could use this for his advantage, and move him to the shelter. Estel saw no way how he could treat those broken bones by himself, Glorfindel would need the help of Elrond.

The boy rose up to his feet and straightened out the blanket beside Glorfindel, then he rolled it up, until only a little piece of the blanket laid flat on the ground.

Estel knelt back down and rolled Glorfindel over until the warrior laid mostly on his right side, with one hand and his knees holding Glorfindel in place, Estel dragged and shoved the rolled part of the blanket beneath him and lowered Glorfindel back on his back.

Moving to the other side the boy repeated his earlier action but this time he merely rolled the blanket out again.

It took some time but finally after a lot of shoving and pulling, was the elf securely in the middle of the blanket.

Estel sat back on his haunches, panting and sweating, the effort to pull Glorfindel on top of the blanket was nearly too much for the thirteen year old boy, but he had done it. Finally he caught his breath again and rose to his feet, grabbing two corners of the blanket he started to move backwards dragging his burden with him.

Slowly but steadily he made his way over to the bushes where Tindómë still was busy with preparing the bed for her ada.

During this trip Estel had to rest several times to catch his breath and shake the fatigue out of his arms, at one time he had thought that he could not go one step further without collapsing to the ground and dying instantly but he fought those feelings back and moved on, until he reached the shelter.

It concerned Estel to no end, that Glorfindel had not moved during this whole procedure, even if it must have been very painful for the elf to be dragged over uneven grounds and a rocky surface, the rain yesterday had made it a little less rocky and more muddy, but there had been still a lot of stones and twigs on their path, but except some moans Glorfindel had not stirred one time.

After a lot of carefully pushing and pulling, Estel had Glorfindel on the spread out blanket, the boy was sweating profusely after this exertion but he knew that his task was far from finished, he reached out for their bundle and rummaged through the meagre contents until he found what he had been looking for, the remaining stripes from the blanket he had cut this morning.

The stripes Estel had only loosely wrapped around the warriors midsection had come undone due to the rough treatment the last minutes and now in this relatively dry and save place Estel was intent to treat the wound as good as he was able, this time he would secure the bandages somehow.

Under the watchful eyes of Tindómë Estel lifted the torn and bloodstained bandages from Glorfindel's stomach and revealed the ugly wound, he had to suppress a shudder and swallowed hard at the sight of the long gash, running nearly from one side of the elf's body to the other,

Estel did not know how Glorfindel had survived this and he could do nothing more than clean the wound and bandage it, the rest was up to Glorfindel.

The boy was sure that the elf would hold on his life and fight, and he would make sure that the warrior would get the help he needed as soon as possible.

Glorfindel was more to him than only a friend or a teacher, over the years they had formed a bond that came close to what Estel shared with his brothers, his foster father or his mother.

Glorfindel was a member of his family, some kind of uncle or even more, like another big brother.

They had shared a lot of fun and Glorfindel had shown him how to play pranks on the twins and sometimes they both had gotten Elrond caught up in one too. Glorfindel had always been there for him, no matter what had upset the boy, Estel always knew that he would find an open ear for the things he did not want to tell Elladan or Elrohir, because it had been too embarrassing. That had not changed when Glorfindel met Yáviëwen and had now a family of his own.

Estel now had not only one family but two and he loved it.

He always wanted to have a little sibling to play with and when Tindómë had been born, his wish had come true.

All of the elves of Imladris knew how hard it was for the boy not having friends of his age around him, so they always allowed him to venture out into the human settlements surrounding Imladris to play with the boys their.

But being raised by elves had made Estel to a different kind of boy, over the years he noticed that he did not really had friends in the villages, the children there would always look at him like a kind of odd boy, they could not understand why he preferred to live with the elves. They always told him that he was human and that he should move into a human settlement with his mother. Not that they did not respect the elves, on the contrary, they adored the elves but in a way you would adore a wonderful statue or a creature out of fairytales. They did not want to hear stories about elves falling out of trees or stumbling into a river. For those children elves were impeccably creatures and almost as high and mighty as the Valar.

They could not understand that elves live and breathe like any other living being on Arda, yes, they would come for lord Elrond for advice or when they needed a healer, but that was it.

They would never think of coming over for a nice talk and some goblets of wine.

You simply do not visit higher beings.

Estel could understand them, they all were farmers and had a hard life, they work from dawn until the sun would set to have enough to eat and trade. They had no time for reading a lot of books or being interested in art and music.

Oh sure, they had their feasts too, with a lot of laughter, dance, wine and food.

But like their parents the children only knew what they needed to know to fill the shoes of their parents. The boys constantly chatted about when it would be the best time to bring the seed out into the fields and the girls talked about bows and dresses and how exited they were finally being able to help their mothers in the kitchen.

None of them was interested in tales of old, those would not help to feed them during bad times. Sure the children played their games of warriors versus orcs or other dark beasts, they would use small branches as swords and pretend to be an elven lord who came to rescue a village or a maiden in distress. But that was not enough for the boy who lived with the elves, he wanted someone his age to talk about his family and friends, but all the boys and girls wanted to know was about battles and heroic adventures.

In the beginning he had been flattered, he was in the middle of their attention and he told them all he knew, but the older he became, the more boring it was for him to tell the same stories over and over again.

So he stayed more and more away from the other children and played on his own or with his brothers. Never did he show them how much it hurt that he had no one close to him who would share his interests.

And when he had heard that Glorfindel and Yáviëwen would have a child of their own, he was more exited than he would have admitted, finally he would have someone to play with and talk to.

Lost in his thoughts he smiled when he remembered the first time he had seen the tiny bundle that was Tindómë, and how disappointed he had been that the baby was so small.

It took some time until he understand that he would have to wait some more years until the little one would be able to play with him and he knew he, no matter how long it would take, he would wait and until hat time he would protect her like every elder brother would do.

While continuing with his ministration he shot a glance over to where Tindo sat, she nibbled on her bottom lip and her fingers subconsciously played with a strand of her hair, yes, he would protect her and Glorfindel, they were his family.

He missed Rildûr, Telnár, Echuridal and Annûntur, the warriors had not been very close friends, but he had known them all his life, and to see their mutilated bodies at the camp had shocked him to his core. He missed their banter, their songs, he even missed Annûnturs cooking, but most of all did he miss their advice, he needed them here to help him, but they were dead.

He so had hoped that one other would be alive, but when he had searched the camp last night, he had only found their corpses, their dead eyes staring into the clouded, dark sky. Their bodies the only thing that was left of them, their souls had abandoned their flesh and were now in the Halls of Mandos where they would be waiting until they would be allowed to enter the undying lands.

Estel hoped that they would be soon reunited with their loved ones who had long ago passed away.

With a sigh Estel returned his attention back to his work. The wound had closed some more since the last time he had looked at it, but the heat that emanated from it felt wrong. Estel did not know if it was poison or an infection, he had used a fairly large amount of their remaining water, to be exact he had depleted the smaller waterskin, to clean the gash and hoped that it would be enough. He could not see the dark stains that indicate poison and the boy hoped that he had done enough to counter a starting infection. He felt sick to the bones feeling the rough edges of the wound under his fingers, but he fought it back, he could be sick later, but not now.

Finally setting the stained clothes aside he took the bandages and proceeded with them like he had done with the blanket, he pushed Glorfindel a bit to the side, tugged two layers under him, let him roll back and crawled to the other side of the warrior and pushed again until he could reach the fabric with his fingers, Estel pulled on them until they lay plain on the blanket before he lowered Glorfindel back.

Now he was able to wrap it all around Glorfindel's midsection and secure it with a knot.

Satisfied Estel sat back and eyed his work, it looked not as good as the bandages Lord Elrond or the healers were doing but it would do for now.

Gazing up through the canopies Estel searched for the sun. Arnor had already made half of her way over the sky and Estel knew that they had to leave now or it would be too late for them to make a good part of the way for today.

He was not eager to venture through unknown woods, where orcs could jump on them from behind every tree, and maybe even wolves could roam around, but they needed to do exactly that to ensure that help would be here as soon as possible.

Tindómë had crawled over to Glorfindel's side and sat now there stroking his arms and whispering something in his ear that Estel was not able to understand.

He decided to leave the family alone for some time and left the thicket, ran over to the campfire and dug a little piece of charcoal from the ashes, searching through the destroyed camp he found a small piece of parchment, soiled but still useable.

Returning to the trees he climbed up to the flet, grabbed his little pack, strapped the quiver on his back, strung the bow over his shoulders and made his way down again.

Before he entered the little cave under the ´bushes he took the charcoal and the parchment and started to write.

It was only a short note, explaining that he would traverse the woods to get help from the village on the other side and that Tindómë was with him.

Estel finished the note with his name and folded it in half, before he ducked back under the braches.

What he found made him smile.

Tindómë has once again snuggled up against he father, her head resting on his chest. The soft movement of his breathing had lulled her back to sleep.

Estel really wanted to do the same, sleep was such an alluring thing, and he had not slept very much too last night.

With a heavy sigh he put aside his pack and started to sort through his belongings.

He refilled the empty waterskin with half of the water from the other, this one would stay here with Glorfindel, Estel hoped that he would be able to locate a well or a little brook to refill his own skin during their journey.

The pouch with the herbs and four of the Lembas would also remain here for Glorfindel.

The two children could live from those two and a half Lembas, that were left, more than tree or four days.

The boy took one of blankets and draped it over the prone form of Glorfindel, after a short moment he took the last one and added it too.

Estel would have loved to take one of the blankets with him, but they still had their cloaks and he hoped that those would be enough to shield them from the chill of the nights, and Glorfindel would need the added warmth while his body used all its energy to heal him.

Gathering the meagre supplies he put them all in his pack, secured his cloak around his shoulders and looked over to the two elves.

In one way everything looked so peaceful, the child sleeping at its fathers side, like they would rest from a day filled with games and laughter, but a closer look would reveal the uneven breathing and the flushed face of the older elf, a sure sign that nothing was fine.

Estel leaned over and touched Tindómë at her shoulder, as gentle as possible he shook her until she blinked a few times, returning from the land of dreams.

"Tindo, what do you think, would you like to have a walk with me until your ada will wake up?"

Still sleepy Tindómë shook her head. "No, I want to stay with my ada."

"Come little one, don't you think it will be boring to sit here for some days? I am sure we will have a lot of fun, and maybe we find a gift for your ada or naneth." Estel tried to persuade her.

But the little girl denied again, this time she shook her head so furiously that her red golden tresses flew over her face, with quivering lips she huddled closer to her ada.

Estel sighed, he should have known, this little girl had two of the most stubborn elves as parents, how could he think that she had not inherited this particular trait from both of them.

He did not want to drag a screaming child away from her father but if she still refused to go, he no alternative, then he would do it, no matter how much pain it would cause not only the girl but also himself.

But first he wanted to use another tactic.

"Tindo, I know that you are afraid, I really do, I feel the same, but we need to go. You still want to help your ada?"

A shy nod was the only answer he got, but it was a start.

"See little one, we can not help him when we sit here. Do you understand that?" This time she shook her head.

"I will try to explain it to you. Your ada is sick, very sick, he needs medicine and he needs the help of an adult healer. We need to go for that help and the sooner we leave, the sooner we will be back with the help your ada needs. Can you understand that?"

Tindómë inclined her head and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Why can you not help ada? You are old and your ada is uncle Elrond, you know what to do, don't you?"

For a moment Estel was dumbfounded, then he started to laugh.

"Oh Tindo," He gasped out, when he finally had the breath again to speak. "You are the first one who called me old."

"But you are old, Estel." Tindómë pouted, embarrassed by his laughing.

"Little one, could you please tell that to my brothers? They will tell you otherwise."

Still giggling Estel reached out a hand to her.

"Come on, give your ada a kiss and tell him that we are back very soon."

Hesitantly Tindómë did what he had said, she placed a kiss on Glorfindel's cheek and whispered something in his ear before she rose to her feet and grabbed Estel's hand. The boy fastened her cloak around her shoulders and led her out of the thicket.

He told her to wait before he returned one last time, he pulled the two blankets up until they covered his whole body up to his chin, placed the waterskin, the Lembas and the pouch with the herbs near the elf's right hand, so that he has not to search for it. The message he had written earlier found its place under the pouch, Estel hoped that it would be safe and easy to be found there.

With a last gentle stroke over Glorfindel's damp hair Estel bade his own farewell.

"I swear that I will protect Tindómë, and that I will take care of her. Rest until we are back, and don't you dare to die here. We need you!"

Estel left the thicket and untied the branches, they snapped back and swayed until they had found their previous place.

He grabbed one of the thicker branched and stoked it.

"Please keep him safe until we come back."

He felt a slight shiver running through the wild roses and it seemed to him that they draw closer together and he smiled.

The boy was relieved to notice that he could barely make out the form of the warrior behind the thick branches, it was not as safe as a flet, but he hoped that the trees and bushes would somehow protect Glorfindel.

Estel grabbed Tindome's hands and led the still hesitant girl away.

After some steps she turned and looked back to where her father laid hidden, tears streaming down her face.

She continued looking back until she could not see anything back there anymore.

Estel noted her behaviour but he said not a word, instead he squeezed her fingers reassuringly before he himself turned around to take one last look.

A short time later the forest had swallowed the two children and the only things left behind were a destroyed camp and a wounded warrior.

See? No evil cliffie. :-D

See you next week 'waves'


End file.
